[Dean Aspects]

after working as a sole trader for over ten years i decided about 2 years ago to expand
it has been going great and now have over 500 customers
but recently things have started to get on top of me
behind with work which i totally hate

i employ 1 person who a couple of weeks ago was of ill for a week -managed to drag himself off his death bed for his pay though
then i was off for a week -broke my foot at kick boxing shoud still be off it but needs must

now my employee text me this morning to say he is ill again he has just appeared at my door saying the doctor told him he has stress and signed him off for at least a week
STRESS !!!!! hes only been at it 6 months and does the same amount of work if not less than me!!!

should i just go back to being a sole trader and keep the cream of the work or is this just normal for an employer to have to deal with this kind of crap

any help thoughts or advice would be helpful

[Moderator David@stives]

I earn more now with just me and the wife than i ever did employing someone.

[TERRY AB]

Depends on how well YOU can take the Stress of always having
your Employee letting you down. Unless you are real Lucky it will
always happen, either take it and accept it or Go alone; but if you get
real injured and have no backup man your in the "SH*t".
I have decided after over 25 Years of having employees to go it
alone, had enough wingers and pansys working for me. Terry

[NWH]

I`ve had guys exactly the same as your describing and take it from me it dosen`t get any better either,that bloke is gonna let you down again and again.Say that because you`ve broke your foot you just can`t work at the moment and your gonna have to lay him off,tell him it`s got worse with working.You can say that your laying him off and that you don`t think that he is capable of working on his own due to being unreliable or the fact that you have to keep an eye on his work,then what you do is go back to work get rid of all the c*** work and keep the cream,trust me blokes like this won`t take you to court.You could give him a few quid to keep him quiet for a while until he trys to find some other mug to milk.

[tacky]

i m the same as dai morris

[Ian_Giles]

Ditto here, Squeaks was the last person I employed (though that was only on a self employed basis)
But for god knows how many years I had people working for me, up to 4 at one point.
Over the years I've had more people work for me than I can count, it has it's bonus's of course, but the more you take on, the more of an overhead you yourself become.
But employing is a right pain in the backside.
To do it properly you have to put them on the books, get employers liability, and so on and so forth.
It gets expensive...
You really need to have the right type of work too.

Anyway, putting up with their endless excuses is really irritating to say the least.

Finding a good un' is really very difficult to

I think you will find that as you are only employing one person, laying him off won't be a problem for you, plus he's only been working for you 6 months, so redundancy not an issue.
The guy is obviously not up to the job, cut and run dude....

If you want to grow, and make REALLY big money, then you need to employ, one man can only do so much work in a day afterall, but it can take a lot of time to find someone reliable.

If you are happy to simply make a good income, and by good I mean anything between say, £500 and £900 per week (and yes, I know there are some out there who can top a grand a week as a sole trader, but they are few and far between) then stick as a sole trader.

Ian

[Trevor Knight]

Welcome to the work of the employer 

Yes it has its draw backs but likewise it has it benefits.

You need to structure your employee's in a way that they understand. Attendance allowance, reliability bonus, these are all legal ways to encourage your employee to be the best he can.

Example - pay the minimum wage and have built into his contract a bonus scheme that is based on reliability and work completed. This then forms part of his salary and he then has a reason to overcome his STRESS!! lol

Trev

[supernova77]

Trevor,

Last week I believe you were emailing a few forum members some information on the best way to employ someone?

If possible could you please forward the email onto me? andy@scs.uk.com

Many Thanks,
Andy

[Trevor Knight]

Trevor,

Last week I believe you were emailing a few forum members some information on the best way to employ someone?

If possible could you please forward the email onto me? andy@scs.uk.com

Many Thanks,
Andy

You have mail Andy.

[Trademark WC]

Hi Trevor

Any chance I could jump on the bandwagon and ask for a copy? as im in the same dilema.

trademarkwindowcleaners@btinternet.com

Thanks

Rob

[Moderator David@stives]

me too

[robbie14000]

Trevor , I would also appreciate a copy if you have a spare few minutes.
Much appreciated Robbie -Clearshine
email: sarah.murphy15@ntlworld.com

[Dean Aspects]

thanks for all the advise and different points of view
 i need to think a bit about where i want to take my business

[newbroom]

Hi Trevor

could i have a copy too please.

Many thanks